Arsenal could only manage a draw against Manchester United on Wednesday, despite taking the lead twice at Old Trafford in an injury-filled controversy-ridden encounter.

Some described the match as a ‘proper Arsenal-Manchester United clash’ afterwards, but in all honesty, it was more like a classic game against Stoke City. Arsenal players went down all game thanks to rough and sometimes dangerous challenges, leading to two first-half injuries.

Marcos Rojo should certainly have been sent off for any number of second-yellow-worthy fouls, Marouane Fellaini bizarrely avoided any kind of card after pulling Matteo Guendouzi’s hair, and United’s first goal should have been disallowed for offside.

The fans booed Guendouzi for getting injured and the main tactic employed by the home side was crossing it in and playing long balls. It was your standard Arsenal encounter against Stoke.

Nonetheless, Unai Emery’s side managed to at least take a point, gaining on Chelsea and leaving United eight points behind. Let’s have a look at our individual player ratings for the match.

Goalkeeper and Centre-Backs

Bernd Leno 6.5

Leno had a small part to play in both goals, but it would be harsh to blame him fully for either incident. He made a decent save from a free-kick with Herrera latching onto the rebound to set up Martial for United’s first goal. Still, Herrera only got to the ball because he was offside.

For the second, Kolasinac needed to deal with the loose ball rather than hoping Leno would come out for it. Nonetheless, the German could’ve got there ahead of Lingard, so it’s on both Leno and Kolasinac to communicate better. Other than that, Leno had to make a lot of saves, which he did well, and he distributed the ball effectively as usual.

Shkodran Mustafi 7

Mustafi had a pretty good night, overall. He scored the opening goal thanks in part to a De Gea howler, and he did a decent job defensively too.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos 6

For the most part, Sokratis has been excellent for Arsenal since signing. However, on this occasion, he looked a bit shaky. His worst moment was letting Romelu Lukaku get the wrong side of him in the build-up to Manchester United’s equaliser, just seconds after the Gunners took a 2-1 lead. Win that aerial duel and Arsenal probably win the match.

On the other hand, he did make the most tackles and win the joint-most aerials in the Arsenal side, plus his passing was more accurate than any other player on the team bar Aubameyang.

Rob Holding 6

It’s difficult to give Holding a proper rating because he only played the first half-hour of the match before an injury forced him off on a stretcher. It’s a massive shame because he is having an excellent season, and it’s now feared he could be out long-term.

Click ‘Next’ for Midfield, Wing-Backs, Forwards and Substitutes

Midfield and Wing-Backs

Hector Bellerin 6

Bellerin had a quiet night, particularly offensively, as the vast majority of Arsenal’s attacks came down the left-hand side. He didn’t get involved much at the back either, failing to make any interceptions or contest any tackles, and he made just one clearance.

Lucas Torreira 7.5

By contrast, Torreira had another busy night, though not as impressive as his efforts at the weekend. He set up Arsenal’s first goal from a corner, used his possession well, and he won the ball back a number of times as usual.

Matteo Guendouzi 6.5

Guendouzi’s performance divided opinion, with some very impressed with his confidence and his forward-thinking approach, whilst others thought he took too many risks. The reality is probably that both things were true to an extent.

The Frenchman saw more of the ball than any other Arsenal player, and he distributed it very effectively. However, he was also dispossessed four times, a game-high total.

Sead Kolasinac 6

Kolasinac got forward very well once again, and he created three chances, more than anyone else on the team. He probably should’ve created even more than he did, given the fantastic positions he found himself in all night.

At the same time, he was at fault for Manchester United’s second goal. It was his poor touch and then a mix of indecision and poor communication that directly resulted in Lingard stealing in for the finish.

Click ‘Next’ for Forwards and Substitutes

Forwards

Aaron Ramsey 6.5

Coming off the back of his impressive substitute performance against Tottenham, Ramsey captained Arsenal from the start at Old Trafford. He made one half-chance for Bellerin and had a fairly solid half before suffering an injury which forced him off at half-time.

Alex Iwobi 6

This was a fairly average performance from Iwobi, but there were two bizarre moments where he gave up on balls he should’ve gone for. A loose pass back to David De Gea perhaps could’ve been his if he’d sprinted for it, and he could’ve turned Herrera’s cut-back behind for a corner if he’d slid in for it, instead of letting it go for Martial to score.

The forward did complete a couple of dribbles and win three of his four duels, but eventually came off early to allow Lacazette the chance to score a winner.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 7

After scoring his last 10 shots on target, Aubameyang saw his run put to an end by a couple of saves by David De Gea. Though the Gabon striker perhaps wasn’t involved as much as he would’ve liked, they were two good efforts on goal and he was unlucky to see both saved by a goalkeeper who was otherwise pretty poor.

Click ‘Next’ for Substitutes

Substitutes

Stephan Lichtsteiner 7

It’s hard to remember many games where Lichtsteiner has actually played in the position he was signed to play in (right-back). On this occasion, he had to fill in at centre-back, and he did a pretty good job under the circumstances, particularly in the air, where he won all of his aerial duels against a tall and physical United side.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan 6.5

Like Lichtsteiner, Mkhitaryan came on thanks to an injury rather than for tactical reasons. The Armenian international hasn’t been in great form recently, so it was good to see him setting up Lacazette as Arsenal took the lead in the second half.

Mkhitaryan set Torreira up for a great chance late on, and he scored an excellent goal immediately afterwards, which was ruled out for offside. Unfortunately, he did also miss a bit of a sitter to make it 3-2 from an onside position.

Alexandre Lacazette 7.5

Lacazette came on in the 65th minute and by the 68th he’d given Arsenal the lead. The goal will likely go down as an own-goal in the official stats since the Frenchman appeared to kick Rojo’s foot into the ball. Although, it may have taken a touch off Lacazette’s leg on the way through. It doesn’t really matter either way.

Lacazette also made a couple of tackles and showed a few nice pieces of hold-up play as he always does.